Kerala - Kochi   

State will not tap liquor to boost revenue: Chandy

Against a scourge:Mammootty, actor, administering an anti-liquor pledge to the audience at a meeting organised by the Excise Department to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Kochi on Sunday.

KOCHI: On the occasion of International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on Sunday, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy announced that his government would not seek to augment revenue by selling more liquor.

“It is not the policy of this government to increase its revenue through liquor sale,” Mr. Chandy told an anti-liquor campaign meeting organised by the Excise Department to mark the day.

Hinting at curbs on liquor sale in the new abkari policy, promised to be announced within the first 100 days of the United Democratic Front government, Mr. Chandy said the government aimed at curtailing the availability of liquor. “By no means will the government promote drinking,” he said.

Pointing out that liquor brought in the second largest chunk of revenue to the State's coffers after sales tax, Mr. Chandy said, “Revenue from liquor should not be reckoned as revenue at all.” For, he noted, the indirect loss caused by liquor was many times more than the direct revenue it brought in. The losses constituted break-up of families, disintegration of the individual, and road accidents.

‘A shame'

Mr. Chandy said Kerala had the highest per capita consumption of alcohol in India. This was a great shame on Malayalis, within Kerala and outside. There was a time when Kerala was known for its high level of education, health-care facilities and social welfare measures. “It is a shame that the State is now known for its drinking habit.”

The government wanted the young population to desist from drinking. Those who called for government ban on drinking were not aware of the practical difficulties of such a step, he said. The Chief Minister said the government planned to create two awards — one for the individual or institution that best created an awareness about the evil effects of drinking among the youth; the other for those who gave a new life to alcoholics effective running of de-addiction centres or through similar efforts. The first such awards would be announced the same day next year, on International Day against Drug Abuse.

Excise Minister K. Babu said the Excise Department's running would be reoriented with social commitment, and not with a view to filling the government coffers. The proposed abkari policy would be very strict.

He said the government planned to set up 140 anti-liquor clubs in each of the 140 Assembly constituencies within the first 100 days of the government.

Actor Mammooty administered a no-drink pledge to the hundreds present at the Ernakulam Town Hall.

He asked them to take a vow that they would not either drink or encourage others to drink.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Metro rail details to be posted online
AMMA to form cricket team
Wild boar the most hunted animal
State will not tap liquor to boost revenue: Chandy
Mammootty's shocking tale
Solid-waste management project launched in Vallarpadam
State to give Rs.25 crore for Pulleppady road
Garbage woes of city likely to pile up
Programme inaugurated
In Kochi Today

Copyright © 2011, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu